


Too Hot, Too Cold

by Influxus



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Artificial Intelligence, Gen, artificial life forms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-31
Updated: 2013-01-31
Packaged: 2017-11-27 15:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/663424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Influxus/pseuds/Influxus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where there is always an M, a Q, a name and a number.</p><p>James Bond through the ages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Hot, Too Cold

The first working 007 model is flawed. He is smooth, charismatic and deadly: all the things that they’d wanted, but it’s the parts they didn’t want, or expect, that prove troublesome. The complete removal of remorse and the increased pleasure in violence, intended to make him an aggressive and ruthless killer in the field, manifests into a sadism barely hidden beneath his outward façade of slick charm. To make matters worse, it’s something the model seeks out on missions, going out of his way to be deliberately and casually cruel. It only somewhat hinders his effectiveness, but that it affects his productiveness at all is a crushing disappointment. M had wanted the perfect weapon, something that couldn’t be compromised by messy emotions, but could convincingly fake them if need be: a human weapon without the human variable. But instead he’d received a man who delights in cruelty and overindulges in sex; someone who chases those desires too closely to be entirely reliable, which is the exact opposite of what M had wanted. Still, the weapon is a very successful agent, and they keep him for a time. They attempt to restrict his less desirable aspects, but out on missions that’s next to impossible. Eventually the resulting property damage and ensuing mayhem isn’t worth it anymore. M has Q scrap the model and start anew. Back to the drawing board.

*

The second model is an unmitigated disaster. In an attempt to make 007 more compassionate and less sadistic they try upping his capacity for affection. And he falls _in love_ , of all things. They quickly destroy that model and start work on another.

*

The third iteration is the best so far. Q dials back almost all emotions, but inputs just enough to make him charming and seductive. As a result, the new 007 is outwardly debonair, personable and suave, with none of the complications of the first two models. Unfortunately he’s not without his drawbacks, and it soon becomes apparent that he’s unsuitable for long missions. They discover that when subjected to heavy scrutiny the model’s gallant façade quickly crumbles, as closer and more long-term inspection reveals his lack of depth and human characteristics beyond the shallow. Still, he is the most effective model Q’s made to date and he’s efficient, clever and resourceful. He still causes massive property damage, but they decide that it’s an acceptable trade-off for a capable, skilled model with a high success rate. 

In fact, the model is so good that he lasts through a change in department heads, as M retires and a new M is ushered in. 007 and the new M take to each other fairly well and even Q is beginning to become fond of this model in a strangely familial way. They probably would have used the model forever, only updating it to keep it modern and its references relevant, but after many years of service, it finally breaks down. They are upset for a time, but eventually Q and M agree that the demise of that model was probably for the best, as their unprofessional fondness for him may have prevented them from seeing that he was perhaps too old fashioned. A completely new model is called for, and Q sets off to work.

*

They decide not to follow the same mold as the last 007, deeming it out-dated, and agree on a completely different approach. They decide to give the new model the depth of character that the previous one had been lacking, and so Q increases the emotional capacity for passion and aggression, but reduces enjoyment and pleasure. He also adds remorse, something that had previously been dialed so far down it was almost nonexistent, so as to not replicate the mistake of the first 007 and inadvertently create something ruled by lust and violence. They decide to make this model less of a charmer and more of a killer, sacrificing subtlety for an increased kill rate.

Unfortunately, the model does not turn out as hoped. He’s too passionate and it makes him argumentative and prone to disobedience. In addition, the added remorse makes him moody and sullen. After he outright refuses to take a mission and hares off to follow his own agenda, they agree he needs to be terminated. They do it with no small amount of relief.

*

After the trouble with the last model, M holds off on making a new one, deciding to try relying on the effectiveness of their human agents. It works for a time, but when M retires, the new M decides to revive the 007 program. She views the failures of the previous 007s as largely the fault of her predecessors and their inability to find a correct balance of the attributes required for maximum efficiency. Moderation, she decides, is the key, along with a wide range of emotions. M and Q throw as much as they can into the latest model, modulating the emotions that had led to the termination of the last 007s. They make him aggressive, but not angry, passionate, but only in pleasure, and they give him just enough remorse to find causing undue pain distasteful. M has Q up the levels of affection, but not enough to allow him to fall in love, and they add a touch of sympathy as well, just the right amount to make him sensitive and gentle if the situation calls for it. M feels this gives him a roundness of character that’s needed for him to successfully mimic a well developed human being. She adds a hedonistic streak to the model, thinking it will make him a more effective seducer, but she hopes it will also to give him a sense of sophistication and an appreciation for the finer things in life. M wants 007 to be a spy again, someone who can integrate himself into high society, but competently mimic depth of character if closely inspected.

At first, the model is an incredible success. He is cultured and charming but ruthlessly pragmatic in the field. His effectiveness rating is at 98% and his kill rate is spotless. He can charm his way into almost anything; his wit and intelligence makes him likeable, and the hints of remorse and sensitivity allow him to appear convincingly human. But over time, he starts to develop problems. The hedonism they added begins to override his more subtle commands. He starts to become self-serving, ignoring lesser orders to indulge in more pleasurable pursuits. And his aggression, which had worked so well in the beginning, has begun to amass such a large amount of property damage that M can no longer afford to ignore it. 

Compounding the problems with 007, Q, the creator and genius that had built all the 007 models, falls ill and is forced to retire on account of his declining health. The new Q, formerly Q’s assistant R, is a good man, but lacks the sort of ingenious creativity particular to the old Quartermaster. Finally, after a mission where 007 ends up stealing a fortune in diamonds and keeping half of them for himself, M makes the decision to scrap the model and start over. The failure stings, but she doesn’t regret it. Regret is unprofessional. 

*

M hires a bright and promising young man to assist Q in the creation of the new 007 model. Together, they resolve to try a new approach with the latest 007. Instead of sending him out fresh into the world, M has Q and the young man (affectionately nicknamed ‘T’), give the model a back-story. They input motivations, loyalties and a very memorable lesson teaching him not to succumb to his emotions. They put sadness, remorse and guilt into his fabricated memories, but they dial them down for working conditions. They hope the remembered emotions will deepen his character without impairing his actions, and will be enough to suppress any sadistic desires the model might manifest. And M has them make 007 loyal to _her_ , not to England. She theorizes it might make him easier to control, that he’s more likely to obey a single concrete person than an intangible ideal. She had made a miscalculation in creating the last 007 to be a hedonist, and in an effort not to repeat the same mistake, she has Q and T make the latest model a sensualist instead. M thinks that it will still make him an effective lover and seducer, but not something he’d be likely to prioritize over orders, like the last one. Once the new 007 is complete, Q decides to retire, and T steps up to take his place. He’s a little young in M’s mind, but this is a new era and young people like Q are the ones at the forefront of technology’s advance. MI6 must keep with the times or risk being left behind and irrelevancy is not something M will allow - not on her watch.

The latest 007 model works, to a certain degree. The model does place M above all others, but it also means that he does what he think is best for _her_ , not for England, and sometimes that means following orders and sometimes it means prioritizing threats to her in favor of threats to the government. And his false memories make him more melancholy than they had expected or hoped for. It causes complications, making him turn to alcohol and pills in his off time, which typically would be grounds for immediate termination, but after the failure of the last model, M is far too invested in this one to scrap him and start again. Besides, he is still effective in the field: ruthless and cunning, calm under pressure and more intuitive than the others, a side effect Q thinks is due to the memories. The model has previous experience to draw from (even if it’s all fabricated and never actually happened) and it makes him more instinctive. It also makes him more unpredictable and occasionally disobedient, but not enough that M is overly concerned. He is not a perfect model by any means, but he’s not quite worth scrapping at this juncture. And if M is a little sentimental about him, it’s only because he was made to be _her_ model and she is somewhat fond of her things.

*

The new M sits at his new desk, in his new office, at his new job and stares at the folder in front of him. Project 007 is written in bold letters at the top, along with ‘Top Secret’ and ‘For M’s eyes only’. Inside it describes the basis of Project 007 and lists the all previous models and all of the former and current Q’s and M’s assessments and observations. It details the models’ failures and successes, updates, technical information, statistics, and ideas for improvements on future models.

M looks up at the young man seated across from him, who is doing something on his phone. Q glances up and meets M’s eyes, smiling a little.

“It’s rather a lot to take in. I trust you’re finished?”

“Yes,” M says, shoving the folder back across the desk to Q, who takes it and puts it in his satchel.

“I have plans to completely digitize and transfer all the files on Project 007 to a database restricted to you and I, but first I need to create the right security for it. As Silva demonstrated, I obviously need something better than what I currently have,” Q says, a tinge of bitterness in his voice. Clearly he’s still a bit sore about being bested by the late Mr. Silva.

“Are we the only ones who know about this?” M asks. Q nods an affirmative.

“Yes, that’s the way it’s always been, and in this case I’m siding with tradition. The fewer people who know about the Project, the better. Of course, when I eventually start training my replacement they’ll be privy to the information as well, but other than that, it’s just you and I.”

“And what am I supposed to do with this?”

Q shrugs.

“Whatever you want, I suppose. You’re M, not me. But typically, an M decides when to destroy a 007, and they dictate and determine the characteristics and personalities of the next one. Your predecessor was the one to start up the program again and she built the last two 007s to her specifications. If you’d prefer one of your own making, we can terminate the current 007 and start work on a new model. I’ll need your input of course, but we always keep a blank body in stasis and I have some interesting ideas that I think you might approve of-”

“No,” M cuts in. He’s thoroughly disturbed by the idea of terminating, _killing_ James Bond, or 007, or whatever he is, just to make another James Bond for himself. “ _This_ Bond, this 007, is still effective, even as injured as he is. He just needs some medical attention and rest and then we can send him out into the field again. From what I’ve observed, he’s an excellent agent.”

“Very well. I’ll fix him up and put him in stasis until he’s fully healed.”

Q pauses, uncharacteristically hesitant, like he wants to say something but isn’t sure if voicing it will get him fired.

“Out with it,” M says, waving a hand impatiently.

“You saw that the previous M made him loyal to _her_ , not the crown. I’m not sure what effect that’s going to have on his programming now that she’s gone. Honestly, the previous Q and I were expecting that the new M would want to scrap him, not keep him. A large part of him was mostly experimental and, as in any first time venture, he has several obvious flaws. So we made the rather egregious mistake of inputting only the most basic commands in the event of M’s death. He could malfunction, or go rogue - possibly even attempt to kill himself. Best case scenario is that he transfers his loyalty to you. But it could go any way.”

M thinks. Several minutes pass, and after a bit Q goes back to his mobile. M gets up to pour himself a drink, offering some to Q, who declines. Taking a generous swig of his scotch he reseats himself and thinks some more. When he finishes his drink, he places the tumbler on his desk and taps his finger. Q looks up, putting away his phone.

“We’re keeping him,” M decides. “If he goes rogue, or malfunctions, or anything impairs his effectiveness in the field, we’ll terminate him immediately. But for now, he stays. That’s an order.”

“Understood.” Q nods in assent and, taking the satchel with the folder inside, politely leaves M’s office, quietly shutting the door behind him. 

M lets out a long breath. Of all the things he had expected when he took the position as head of MI6, this was something he’d never even considered. He knew that MI6 created excellent agents, but he hadn’t thought they were doing it _literally_. James Bond, or at least the most current James Bond, seems so _real_ , so human, when he’s anything but. It’s a staggering thought and one M’s not sure he’s fully processed yet. Perhaps it’s part of the reason he doesn’t want to destroy Bond: the lingering notion that Bond is actually a human being. It’s not a very rational reason, but something in his gut tells him that the current model is still a good, loyal agent, and time and experience has taught him to trust that feeling. His instincts are something that very rarely lead him astray, and M feels that this 007 has life in him yet.

**Author's Note:**

> A little take-off on the popular theory that James Bond, like 007, is a code name. (Ignoring Skyfall's debunking of that.) 
> 
> For the sake of continuity I've ignored the one-off Q (Peter Burton from Dr. No) and the brief return of Sean Connery's Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. And I'm completely ignoring Never Say Never Again, which I view as out of continuity anyway. 
> 
> Minor spoilers for assorted Bond films, most notably Her Majesty's Secret Service, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day and Skyfall.


End file.
